Which to use
“eight” is a num and “eighth” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,016
- “eight” frequency rank
- #5,125
- “eighth” frequency rank
- 6141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | eight | eighth |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A numerical value equal to 8; the number occurring after seven and before nine. | The ordinal form of the number eight. |
Where the eye mixes eight and eighth
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses eight with eighth
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: eight is /eɪt/ while eighth is /eɪtθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “eight” sits inside “eighth”, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
eight is recorded at frequency rank #1,016, classified as anum, pronounced /eɪt/. eighth is at rank #5,125, tagged as anadj, pronounced /eɪtθ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 6141, this pair ranks #512,578 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of eight vs eighth
Shared letters: eghit. Private to "eight": -. Private to "eighth": -.
"eight" · 5 letters · shape VVCCC · "eighth" · 6 letters · shape VVCCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "eight" and "eighth" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "eight" or "eighth"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "eight" and "eighth" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "eight" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eighth" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #512,578 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "eight" and "eighth" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eight vs Enright". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #512,578 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.